The Denver Center has a great seat reserved for me at its runaway hit, “Girls Only: The Secret Comedy of Women.”

It’s in the light booth.

It’s not that I’m not welcome at the Galleria Theatre. It’s that most of the other seats are taken. And not by men.

Call it Slumber Party Theater. And it’s not only waking up Colorado’s theater economy. It’s reinvigorating girls night out.

More than 33,000 women have come to the Denver Center since September to see “Girls Only,” an interactive giggle-fest based on the childhood diaries of performers Barbara Gehring and Linda Klein. And 2,500 have come to the smaller Avenue Theater for “That Woman Show” since Feb. 8.

Men are not encouraged.

Men are not complaining.

The Avenue may be run by men, but (in this case) they’re no dummies. The Avenue debuted “Girls Only” with a sold-out run a year ago. Now it’s committed to launching an original women-centric show each year. Theaters from Denver to Manitou Springs are following suit.

“Something is definitely happening here,” said Klein, “and I think anybody who taps into it is a smart person.”

Last week, they were 25 women who took a train from Glenwood Springs, stayed at a fancy downtown hotel and then “got out of control” at the Avenue Theater, co-owner Dave Johnson said — in a good way.

“These are women who have decided that instead of spending their money on a movie or going out to a bar, they are going to see a show where they can still have a drink but also be really moved by a piece of theater that’s all about them,” said Gehring.

They’re women like Karla Florence of Centennial and her four co- workers, who enjoyed dinner on the 31st floor of their downtown office building, then strolled down to the Avenue for “That Woman Show.”

“We laughed nonstop for four hours,” Florence said — and the show was only two. It was just what a group of pals who work in the financial industry needed.

“It was an opportunity to leave recession news behind and laugh at the amusing and covert side of life as women,” Florence said. “We were completely recharged, and our friendships were strengthened.”

Hah, hah. Listen to that. Women are just so different from men. I tried to think of the last time I saw a group of guys bonding over a David Mamet swear-fest. You know, for fun.

Still thinking.

It’s not just that, unlike men, women love to gather. It’s that they love to gather . . . and share.

“Whatever it is — the best lipstick or hair spray — women tell their girlfriends about it, because that’s what women do,” Gehring said. “They say to their friends, ‘Oh, you are going to have to try this.’ ”

Florence thinks women need time together to laugh and talk about everyday struggles. “When women are stressed or we feel insecure, we want to unwrap and talk about every layer of feeling and emotion,” she said. “When men are stressed, they want to be left alone. Women provide strength and support for each other, and our time together fills the emotional gap of marriage.”

It’s not that “Girls Only” is heavy or deep. “But there is something about knowing this whole theater full of 210 women have all gone through these same things together,” Gehring said. “There is a bonding moment that touches women more deeply than we ever thought imaginable.”

This theatrical phenomenon can be traced to “Menopause the Musical,” a silly evening of pop tunes relyricized to hot-flash themes. It’s estimated 11 million women in 14 countries have seen it since 2001. Others have followed.

And it has women feeling like girls again.

Florence’s friend Jeanene Smith says age brought her some wisdom “but also an end to my spontaneous adventures.”

” ‘That Woman Show’ provides a safe space to laugh out loud, act out, shout, dance, and be more ‘me’ than I’ve been in a long time, while surrounded by friends old and new,” she said.

Today, one out of every three men imprisoned in Colorado -- and four out of every five women inmates -- say they have some type of moderate to critical mental health need, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections. The number of inmates with mental health needs in Colorado's prisons has steadily risen in the past two decades.

Maybe you've got plans to camp this weekend (just watch out for the mud and, er, snow up there), go for a hike or maybe you just want to lounge by the pool and kick it. Unfortunately, Mother Nature doesn't always necessarily cooperate.